Sacred Excavation

Sorcery

Return up to two cards with cycling from your graveyard to your hand.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (10)

Cyberbolt21 on Mono Blue Midrange

3 years ago

psionictemplar yeah believe me i know. XD i have a habbit of always adding a bunch of cards that look interesting. This use to be way more clutered before i put this here. For the theme, like title says, im going for more of a midrange style. Mix of aggro and control. So im trying to aim for a balance of creatures and spells. I've been watching youtube videos for guidance and pull some cards from various build from Tolarian Professor, strickly better MTG and Giant monster games. In a way id like for this deck to be a jack of all trades type, can do several things but not excelling in one particular area. This is well suited for the group of friends i play with. I know abilities matter more but ive always been a person who likes to use cards that have artwork i enjoy, not solely run stuff just cuz they are objectively the best, it depends. This applies mostly with creatures for me, an old habit i have from my yugioh days XD but i digress. Thats why mono blue has been difficult for me to make, cuz a lot of creatures are meh to me. However i did find some stuff i like. So creatures like Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea Cloudfin Raptor and Thoughtbound Phantasm can get bigger over time. And for Thoughtbound Phantasm uses surveil so i threw in Narcomoeba in so i can a free creatures out. Id prefer if i could get a creature that has this same ability but with some added stuff idk. Also threw in some surveil cards like Dream Eater and Dazzling Lights to boost Thoughtbound Phantasm . Also have one Rise from the Tides for a token flood if i need it and some milling options like Mind Sculpt and have Sacred Excavation to use on Compelling Argument for more mill options. Cryptic Serpent can get out quick and cheaper with all the instants and sorceries played. And for Phyrexian Revoker i already have a full set of 4 irl cards so i might throw them here, can be good control to block card abilities, and have the other Phyrexian Metamorph to copy a creature if needed. Like i said id like this to be a jack of all trades kinda deck. I just need to get a good ratio of cards to balance out this deck.

Enral on ⟳ Deckcycle | Gavi Primer

4 years ago

stcsteven97: Not sure if I like the idea of exiling my stuff to be honest...I do have cards like Sacred Excavation to get my cyclers back as I need a critical mass to be able to "go off".

ANemoAcids on Zur Cycler

5 years ago

I'm looking at picking this decklist up, thought I'd throw a comment here with the few changes I'm making:

Abandoned Sarcophagus for Archaeomancer Cycling deck. It's a free "cast all of these now that you need them" as opposed to just bringing one back.

Also Search for azcanta for Sacred Excavation times where you are having a little bit of difficulty getting the cycle going.

Approach of the Second Sun for Wander in Death oh look, a win con for one card slot in a cycle deck, hard to say no to this.

Countervailing Winds for Eternal Dragon. Super expensive/technical/limited Squee the Immortal, that's just a 5/5 flying with plainscycle (you have quite a number of landcycles already) doesn't feel too great, I think personally I'd just rather a super hard counterspell, will be making more than enough flyers with Drake Haven as it is I feel!

I really want to find room for Nimble Obstructionist and Grasp of Fate but I just can't see what else to take out, because the pieces you have in here are really decent.

Some land changes:

Shefet Dunes for a plains OR steppe? (strong if you pump out a fairly reasonable bunch of drakes and even Migratory Route or Rise from the Tides for a power play, probably won't kill anyone with high health, but excellent for executing 15-20 hp with fliers, or forcing them to burn valuable resources to stop it, for one land).

Ipnu Rivulet for Island. Graveyard filler, Second Sun chaser, Helps you push for some cycle cards too, in a slightly different way to a flipped Search for Azcanta.

(I'm a filthy azorius second sun/drake haven player, so I'm loathe to part with them if I can fit them in a deck for another format too).

jgc10 on

6 years ago

Sacred Excavation seems like a good fit for this deck. Shadow of the Grave too, but that seems a little more limited.

TMBRLZ on Top Mill cards in standard

6 years ago

I'm think you're referring to Sacred Excavation.

But on that note Pieces of the Puzzle is really useful for digging deep for answers or spells.

There's also Contingency Plan.

There's also Scribe of the Mindful.

clayperce on Hour of Devastation Spoilers

6 years ago

So obviously Bolas is about to open a YUGE can of whup-ass on Amonkeht. But what do y'all think comes after?

Is this all just about making a giant army of Zombies to create some interplanar chaos? If so, do you think he's headed back to the Talon Gates on Dominaria, or somewhere else? (Some early Bolas lore is here, if you're all, "What's a Talon Gate?")

Also, any ideas on what Bolas plans to do with all the lazotep? Wizards made a point about everyone getting "lazotep" spindowns and pyramid-shaped D4s as the AKH Pre-release, so I've kind of been keeping an eye on it. It's made the flavor texts and art of Stone Quarry, Shimmerscale Drake, and Sacred Excavation, but so far there's only been one passing reference in Magic Story:

Awkward figures wrapped in white linen bent and dug in the harsh sands. Mummies, they called them. The anointed. Hundreds, thousands of the mummies dug into a deep pit, pulling out a blue ore. Cartloads of the ore snaked their way in a large procession toward the city.

Finally, I'm wondering if there may actually be some hope for Amonkhet after all the devastation. The art on Ramunap Excavator (back on Post #120) just seems TOTALLY out of place with everything else that's going on. And while Nissa, Genesis Mage's name (same post) may just be a reference to her Genesis Wave-like ultimate, I'm wondering if maybe she ends up sticking around afterwards to rebuild Amonkhet.

Or maybe it's just because she likes the band ...

Thoughts?

ive-been-degaussed on Zur Enchantress Cycling

6 years ago

Some thoughts:

• Baleful Strix is a pretty strict upgrade over Wall of Omens in this deck.

• Sacred Excavation could be a good way to restock your hand with cyclers, although idk how much redundancy you need here.

• Some other cyclers to consider: Expunge (kill spell), Scarab Feast (gy hate), Dirge of Dread (evasion for all your tokens or Zur)

Murphy77 on No Fun Allowed

6 years ago

I think that I would tend to give up 6 Island for 3 each of Drake Haven and Sacred Excavation. Make use of cycle effects to flood the field with 2/2 flying Drakes from early in the game, then get those cards back into your hand.